Truth Behind Choice
by Hatter Child
Summary: (Crap ton of OC/Derived from Teaser Trailer) Choices make the person. And living in a life where you have no choice can prove to be difficult. But when a young woman beings to see her choices make her who she is and who she will become, she rebels. With the help and support of her other worldly master, she's ready to help defend a universe she never thought she'd come to love.


A/N:

The Hatter has returned!

Ok so does anyone remember the teaser trailer I left a while back? (The one that was kinda ignored by the world, but not a damn was given?)

I told you this story was being made whither you liked it or not! Muahaha!

To be clear, this story was spawned because I had gotten back into the series by my classmates back in culinary school. They got me into Team Four Star's DBZA (not a sponsor!) and I forced myself to watch the original again after YEARS of not watching it. And I fell back in love instantly.

Granted, I was rusty going back in, but soon, I watched the whole series, both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z...and of course GT, but we don't talk about GT...ever.

As many of you know, I'm an OC whore and I love the idea of adding new characters to stories because it adds extra flare. This is going to be one of those things.

I suppose I need to set a scene here as this story kinda jumps right on in. It'll do a lot of time jumping, but the first half is LONG before the events of Dragon Ball...throwing it out there now...I mean long. We're talking maybe 100 or so years.

Give this story and it's characters a chance. I promise it'll be good.

* * *

_'I have made contact of sorts with one of the many divine beings that torments my mind...my heart. Her beauty and her power is so...unlike that of which I have seen in a woman of my own race.'_

The night sky was shrouded in a deep blue and black with the stars hidden behind the clouds, yet the moon was bright and beautiful as always...just as he remembered.

He smiled as he stared out his bared window, ready to face his maker with a smile of pure unrestrained pride.

The flush on his pale face hadn't faded in weeks and he knew it wasn't going to fade any time soon. The illness had taken it's full effect and he could feel his heart struggling to keep up. But he wasn't scared. Not in the least.

Sighing, he turned his head away from the window and tried to sit up, only to fail in a fit of coughs, blood coming up from his throat and he settled for laying back down in his cot. It was cold in his cell, but he felt warm. Not just his body from the fever, but his soul felt like a furnace.

His smile grew as he shut his eyes, removing his hand from the blankets and reach up a little, as if reach for air.

A tear left his closed eye when he felt a soft, delicate hand close around his.

"You came..."

A soft voice resounded and said,

"As if I could stay away...you know that."

He opened his eyes to see her face, her sad but happy face...she was still beautiful. He moved his hand from hers to caress her face. Her own eyes closed as she felt his clammy hands against her warm skin.

"I could've saved you, Muso-kun. Why didn't you let me?"

"Heh, you know why...I was not meant to live forever. Especially with you and your kind...it wasn't meant to be."

She let out a sigh that sounded like a closed off sob. And he couldn't resist gripping her hand again, making her look at him.

"Listen to me...you've been with me for years...and I took your words and guidance for granted...my foolishness led me here and now I am reaching for deaths door...you could have saved me as you say...but I feel my destiny was to meet you and document all I knew..."

She smiled and she touched his hand on his chest, squeezing his other hand. He turned his head out the window and continued.

"One day, they will understand that all they think they know is either false or true, but in an entirely different way. That there is more power in people than they care to admit...I feel this is only the beginning."

He looked up at her again and his eyes softened.

"I never would've imagined my life going any different even after meeting you. You drove me to the brink of insanity...and yet...I couldn't deny you anything...I never will, not even in my next life over."

She smirked a sad smirk and turned to face the book that was laying on his nightstand, a lone pencil next to it and gave him a questioning look, but he smiled and reached for it and the pencil. For a few moments, she watched as he scribbled something down on the last page and she saw a small tear fall from his right eye.

She watched as he closed the book with a sigh and set it back on the nightstand, then took her hand in his.

"It's done...the book I've been working on for years about you...and the other Kais...it's finally done..."

"And it only took what? 28 years?"

They laughed together and in that moment, he felt more alive than he felt he was dying. He coughed a little bit and she gasped when she saw blood leak from his mouth. But he stopped her as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said,

"Maybe in another time...I could have chosen you...but I couldn't. I was too afraid to try..."

"You had your reasons...and as much as it hurts me...I understand."

They shared a soft glance for a few moments and before anything else was uttered, she leaned in and kissed his cold lips, feeling relieved when he kissed her back. He reached into her long pale hair as she ran her soft fingertips across his neck.

He was the first to break apart when he felt the sign of a fit coming up. The last thing he wanted her to remember him by was coughing blood into her mouth. He leaned over the bed and coughed heavily, heaving up blood and air. And she could only watch, saddened and fearful.

As he calmed down a bit, she said,

"Muso-kun...there's something I want to tell you. And if I don't do it now, I shall spend the rest of eternity regretting it..."

"What...phew...what is it?"

She took in a deep breath of air and exhaled softly.

"I have never once felt this way about a human before and that alone is...shocking for me. The others would be shocked as well, but my leader...I have talked to him about this...about you..."

That was stunning. Kureji sat up suddenly, knowing that was a bad idea, but he stared at her bewildered.

"You told the Grand Supreme Kai about me?! I thought you were against your people finding out about us!"

"They would've found out eventually, you know that. Now shut up and listen."

Kureji nodded and watched as she sighed and said,

"I told him about us and I told him you were...the first and perhaps the only human I will ever associate with in this matter. And I told him...that you were possibly not going to make it in this world. I told him I would personally train you in our ways! And he was all for it too! And that's why when you told me you wanted this...that you wanted to die...that's why I left you for months...but now that it's almost over...I couldn't just leave you with telling you..."

He said nothing as she blushed and fidgeted in her seat. Never once had he seen her blush and to be fair, he found it adorable, even for a Supreme Kai.

She groaned, irritated that she couldn't say it. The words were lodged in her throat and she tried to force them up. Why was this so hard to do?

After a few minutes of seeing her trying to think of how to say whatever it was she wanted to say, Kureji finally understood. And the thought made him blush as well. Maybe that last scribble in his book wasn't just his fantasy...maybe if he told her once more, she could finally say it back.

He set his hand on her cheek, forcing her to look at him and he smiled a weak smile. And she smiled back, suddenly feeling like a large weight was lifted from her shoulders.

"Muso-kun...I truly do love you...I believe I have for a long time...it's just so difficult to put this is perspective...I-"

She was stopped with a kiss to her forehead and she giggled. Why was she stammering like this? Was this how all women acted when they were in love? What a strange feeling.

Kureji leaned back and moved so he could lay down, staring at the ceiling and exhaled through his nose...

"All I wanted...was to hear you say those words...it's as if I can die happy here and now..."

She positioned herself so she was leaning over him and she kissed his nose, whispering,

"It'll hurt me to see you go...but if my confession allows you to die in peace...then let me say it once more...I love you. I think more than I could even dream of putting into words..."

He grinned and kissed her hand on that was on his cheek. This was it...he could die peacefully...and happy...

He vaguely heard her say,

"I only wish the others will feel this feeling as I have. We spend our time defending the universe and yet...I pray they feel this happiness as I have felt with you."

She spoke so quietly she wasn't sure he heard her or not...she knew he was close to the end...

tears burned in her eyes as she removed her hand and stood to leave. But what she heard stopped her and she gasped.

"One day...maybe one day...they will understand...I'm sure they will..."

And with that, he was gone. A smile on his face at that. She smiled as tears fell from her eyes and she nodded. Turning to grab the book off his nightstand, she opened it to the last page and read the little scribble he wrote...it made her laugh out loud.

_'To love such a creature as I have loved her and no other..._

_Perhaps I am insane.'_

"Ahhhh Muso-kun...even dead, you make me laugh."

She looked at his body, smiling as she gripped the book and sighed. This needed to be out in the world. Lord only knows where she would drop it...

Hearing someone coming down the hallway, she disappeared from the room, knowing that Kureji Muso didn't die in vain. His life was a cruel void and with her presence, it made him happier, even when he was committed.

She loved him as he loved her. And she knew the others would understand one day.

* * *

100 years later...

The townspeople watched as the shop burned to the ground, not to mention the old shop keep screaming at the crowd to go away. He was digging through the rubble, trying to save some of the books.

People started walking away, mumbling to themselves about the crazy old man.

But among the crowd was a little girl was walked towards the rubble, not believing that the place had actually burnt down. It seemed like only yesterday that the place opened up and now it was gone, just like that.

Rumor had it the shop keep was selling spell books and teaching dark magic and tricks of evil to young children. That's one reason the place could've burnt down. But she didn't believe it. Not really.

Walking through the now cold ashes, she kicked some of the rubble away, not seeing the huge deal with why people were so cruel when it came to peoples businesses. This was the fourth one this month that was destroyed because of the towns close minded views.

She sighed and kicked another piece of rubble away, stopping when she found something under the pile of wood. Moving it aside, it was a book! Perfectly preserved and only slightly worn out. It must've been really old. She looked it over and brushed the ash off the cover. While she couldn't read the title of the book, being worn out, could make out the small picture on the front.

An orb of yellow and white. Interesting.

"Ahhhh you found one! Thank the gods!"

She looked up to see the old man looking down at her with the book and she smiled.

"Can you read the title? It's so worn out and I can't tell what it says."

"Hmmm I believe that's...huh..."

He took the book and looked it over for a few moments, stating that he didn't remember this being on his shelves and that he had it in the basement when he opened up.

"I must've brought it up and forgotten it was there. How strange...such an old book too. The only one of its print."

"What's it about?"

"Honestly, I can't remember. I only skimmed it a little. I think it's something to do with...some kind of God or something..."

He opened it and skimmed through some of the pages and smiled.

"Yes, it's coming back to me. The author of this documented his experiences with godlike figures known as Kais. Such a sad story though. He was committed to an insane asylum when he tried to prove their existence...you're Kiyagi's kid, aren't you?"

She nodded and smiled.

"It's Amane, actually. Why?"

"Oh, no particular reason, really...a good number of us know how he treats women in this town. How your mother puts up with it, I have no idea...hey, how would you like to have this?"

"Huh? Me? Why?"

"I'm not sure why, but I have this...deep feeling you'd benefit from this book more than anyone else in this town. Call it an old mans intuition or whatever, but I have a feeling you'll get more comfort from this book than from people here."

"Comfort? How do you mean?"

"From what I remember, the author led a life much like how yours is going. He had parents who were not very interested in his life and it led him to be highly introverted and alone...you're alone, I can just tell by looking at you. Your fathers influence...you have trust issues already."

Amane blushed and nodded. He wasn't totally wrong at that knowledge.

He smiled softly and patted her head, saying,

"Keep it and read it. You might find some common ground with the writer. And it might give you some kind of mental safe zone with his words. You never know."

With that, he walked off and left Amane with the book back in her hands, greatly confused. Common ground? With what? A guy who wrote this thing however long ago?

Rolling her eyes, she opened the book and strolled through some of the pages, grabbing hold of a few key words.

"Gods...Kais...Universe...huh, I guess it's interesting...Yeah, I'll give it a shot."

She smiled and closed the book, taking off home so she could hide it in her room. If her father found this, he would burn it within seconds. She grinned a childish grin, happy to know she had her own little secret to share with herself.

-Later that night-

_'To love such a creature as I have loved her and no other..._

_Perhaps I am insane.'_

"...That's it? Are you kidding me? I thought it would be more climactic than that! Ugh!"

She flipped through the pages a few times and groaned. 2 hours reading this and now she was stuck with a void. Well, the bookshop owner did say it ended...oddly. Obviously, he wasn't joking.

She set the book under her bed and sighed to herself. The man who wrote the book...Kureji Muso...such a genius! And so much to relate to her. Having a parent hate you for what you' were born as, lonely and repressed, no one to understand you. To be ostracized for stupid reasons... It was strange that she now thought of herself when she read the whole story.

True, she was the only child of the village hero...this didn't give her much luxury in the matter. And it only bothered her a little...sometimes.

She sighed happily and plopped back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She made the right choice to give the book a chance. She loved it!

"I wonder if they're real. They sound too amazing...protectors of the universe...golden fruit births...Other World...ahhhh I'd love to see it! Sounds like a dream world!"

She smiled and shut her eyes for a moment, then frowned. Obviously, her mother wasn't coming in to tuck her in tonight either. She and father must be fighting outside again...probably about the arrangement that had been decided about 5 hours ago.

What a bored to know her father already decided she was going to be married. And meeting her betrothed was not all that fun either. Some kid named...god, she didn't remember. All she remembered was her pretending to be interested, but even her mother could see the hate in her eyes.

She had already shown signs of not being interested in the typical woman's future of marriage and motherhood. If anything, she became interested in her fathers world of martial arts. Every time she walked past him and his students training, she would watch in awe and imagined what it would be like to train like that.

She curdled up into a ball, sighing to herself. She knew better than to dream like that. There was more to her life than what she was stuck with...sadly, she wouldn't be able to enjoy it...not with her stupid marriage happening in about 10 or so years.

Her body started to shake with tears. She hated the world she was born into. It as only a matter of time before she would become a woman and her father would sell her off to be a wife. That wasn't what she wanted, but no one cared to understand that.

She looked at the corner of the book she had just finished and ran her fingers over it. After reading that, she wanted to live like the creatures in the book. Carefree and living eternally, doing what they wanted.

Kureji Muso...the shop keep was right to say she could find common ground with him after reading that story. It was like she was reading into her own life, but knowing there would be a different outcome. Whereas he was lucky to interact with a Kai, she would be alone and be forced to become a wife to some guy she didn't know...nor did she care to know.

Her father didn't understand, her mother would probably refuse to understand and she had no friends to her name.

Not that it really bothered her. She liked being alone. It made it so she wouldn't be hurt...but that didn't mean she didn't want someone to understand her like she understood Kureji Muso...

'Do not be sad...I understand...'

_TBC..._


End file.
